Refrigerating system



May 15,, 1,669,465

3. F. HALL ET AL.

REFRIGERATING SYSTEM Filed 00%;. 13 Z1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS CFIRTER F. HALL May 15, 1928. 1,869,465

. c. F. HALL ET m. V

REFRIGERATING SYSTEM F1186 00%. 13. 1927 2 shsetwshem 1E. Til-13L AND FREDERIGII.

ASSIG-lltlfi KEG Application filelfl. Butcher 13, 13295.

lhis invention relates to refrigerating op paratus llllll more pui'ticula ly'to o i'ei i'ig n sting system which is especially adapted for use in connection with railway cars and the like.

l-lcrctoiiore it has been the usual practice in cooling the drinking water on railway cars to pack a quantity of ice around the mite-,7 pipe lozuling from :1. main Water tonic or reservoir. or this purpose the portion of the Water pipe adjacent to the iiuucet is ordinarily surrounded by e ionic or other i'ccei'i'liziclc Within which the ice is POCQWG. (.ibviously this arrangement sub iect to o. nuu'ibc'c of serious objections, most importunt oi which is that such arrangement (loos not i use e constum supply of cold water clue the fact that it is often iinpossible to replenish the supply of ice Whlch 1S necessary to maintain an oven low temperw tuic. Further, the problem of icing the mill; is a series one in that a sufficient quentitv of ice must be kept on hand at various cleiaots to meet the cleiinenfis of the great number of railway drinking rater systems,

thereby introducing a hen-oiling expense for i a, the ice WllICli is quite considerable. Bill].

further. inasmuch as each car off-the train is usually supplied with one or inore drinking iountsi these latter often reaching a great number for each train end being located at consic'le'ahle ilistunces from each other, it becomes necessn y to inoividually supply e: cli fount with its own supply of ice. the

expenditure of tin'ievancl labor so involved being quite expensive. i

It is among the objects of this invention to obviate the ai oyementioned objections ancl (liilicultics by providinu an artificial refrigeration system to supplant the present 1nethocls now in use upon railway vehicles. this artificial re 'q'erution system being not only highly eilicieot in use but bcingalso entirely autoinntic in operation thereby re.- quii-ing a minin'uun attention.

A further object; of the invention is the utilization oi on electric refrigerating unit for insuring a constant supply of cold drinking- Wnter.

A still Further object of the invention is the provision of a system of electric refrigeration wherein a compre sion type of i'cfrig'ei'fltinn' unit is us d to supply :1 suitehle liquid relri iz-clout in an evaporator surrounding that portion of the supply pipe from which the drinking Water is thrown oil. A still further object he invention is the provision eat an electrical circuit incluth ing a generator operable to constantly maintain a storage battery charged to full cepacity, thev arrangement being such as to supply current to the refrigerating unit ill reotly from the generator when the twin is in motion or from the battery When the train is at rest and refrigeration is clesirecl. A still further ohject of the invention the provision of an oii'engeinei'it for insuring the positive circulation oi air about the condenser coils of the refrigerecing unit whereby to more readily effect liquefaction of the reiirigerzmt.

(lther objects of the invention will appear more fully hei'eineftcia The invention consists substantially in. the constnuction, combination, location and rol ative arrangement oi poi-ts, all as will he clescrihccl more fully hereinafter as pointed out in the accompanying drawings il1ustratthe preferred forms thereof, and finally pointed out in the eppenclecl claims.

in the drawings: Figure 1, is a partly perspective and partly diagrammatic view showing the general arrangement 21ml construction of the several component parts of the invention;

- Figure 2 is a perspective View of a inodi fiecl form of construction of evaporating unit, this figure also showing an alternative arrangement from that shown in Figure 1 for delivering "ater to the faucet and Figure 3 is a general View taken along the line 3-3 of Figure l.

Fig. l shows one of partly in section. v

Referring more particularly to the drawiugs, Figure "1, shows the general arm-now nicut of a refrigecution system embodying the principles of this invention, this system including a refrigerating unit designated generally by the reference numeral 10 op emblc to circulate a suitable refrigerant, such as sulphur rlioxicle methyl cliloiide ethyl chloride, carbon dioxide oi: the lilste lhrough the water cooler oi e railway oe hicle. this cooler being; (lesignated generally by the relcrcnce numeral 11. The relii'igcn ating; unit 10 is of the more orlessusual compre sion type embodying a compressor a condenser in the form of u coil of circular cross-section and an electric motor For on the Water coolers till crating the compressor. Inasmuch as the refrigerating unit per so does not form a part of this invention except in its relation to the s stem of refrigeration as a whole further escription of the refrigerating unit is deemed unnecessary and superfluous and will not be attempted in this specification.

The unit is suitably mounted beneath the floor 12 of the railway vehicle in the manner most clearly shown in Figure 1; The drinking touut or cooler 11 which is located within the interior of the railway vehicle is of the usual construction now in more or less general use and comprises a tank or receptacle 13. A water pipe 14 passes through the tank 13, the upper end of which projects through the top of the tank 13 and is connected by pipe 15 to a main-water supply tank 16. This main tank 16 is filled with water through the pipe 17,

the overflow therefrom passing through the.

pipe 18. Water is drawn. off from the pipe i l through a faucet 19 connected to the lower end thereof. Preferably the pipe 14 is rovided with a lower extension 20 within w rich is located a valve 21 for permitting the water to pass out through the bottom of the pipe 14 when it becomes desirable to clean the interior thereof. To facilitate this cleaning operation the upper end of the pipe 14 is provided with a removable cap 22 and the interior of the pipe l t is preferably lined with porcelain or some other such vitreous coating.

Surrounding the portion of the pipe 14 which is disposed within the interior of the cooler tank 13 is a spiral coil 23 constituting the cooling element of the cooler. The upper and lower ends of this spiral coil terminate in vertically spaced manifoldsm2 t and 25. The lower manifold 25 is provided with no outlets while the upper manifold 24 is provided with both inlet and outlet openings whichflare in communication with the refrigeratingunit 10 through the high and lowpressure pipes 26 and 27 respectively. In the manner well understood in the art, the high pressure line 26 is connected to the inlet of the manifold 24: as at 28 while the low pressure line 27 is connected to the outlet of this manifold as at 29. It will be understood of course that the spiral coil 23 in the cooler unit constitutes the evaporator of the refrigerating system, refrigeration being roduced- 'in the cooling unit by the latent eat of vaporiz'zt on of the particular refrigerant employed. he vapor resulting from the vaporization o .theliquid refrigerant in the spiral coils 23 is; onducted to the sue-- tion side of the compr sor through the pipe 270 The compressor iieh forces the gas'into the condensing element of the refrigerating unit where it is liquefied by coolin in this case preferably by means of air. he li uid refrigerant is then returned to the coo ing mersed in a solution of calcium or salt brine contained in the tank 13. \Vhile in the particular construction disclosed in Figure 1 the evaporator unit comprises only a single spiral coil 23, it is to be understood that ascries of such coils may be employed extending in multiple between the manifolds 24' and 25.

The circuit for supplying current to the compresssor motor will now be described. Included in this circuit is a generator 30 and a storage battery 31, the former bcin connected to the axle of the vehicle in sue a manner that when the vehicle is in motion current will be generated by the generator. The generator is connected in the usual manner through a charging control box 32 to the terminals 83 and 34 of the storage battery so that the latter is constantly supplied with a charging current from the generator. A

solenoid 35 is connected in the line between the charging control box 32 and the terminal 36 of the generator. Obviously whenever the vehicle is in motion and the generator generating current this solenoid 35 will be energized with the result that the armature 37 will be pulled into contacting engagement with the fixed contact point 38. Whenv the vehicle is at rest with the gonsequent result that no current is bein generated by the generator 30 the solenoid 35 is (ls-energized and the armature 37 is immediately pulled away from the fixed contact point 38 by means of the spring 39.

The terminals 33 and 34 of the storage battery 31 are respectively connected through the wires 40 and 41 to one set of terminals of a double-pole double-throw switch 42; while the terminals of the generator 30 are in turn respectively connected through the wires 43 and 44. to the opposite set of terminals of said switch. connect the compressor motor to the intermediate set of terminals of the double-pole double-throw switch 42.

. "When the train is in motion it is preferable to operate the compressorpump by current supplied from the generator and 1n order to accomplish this it is merely neces" sary to throw the switc'h 42 over to -the left so as to connect the wires 43 and 44*to the wires 45 and 46 respectively. Should it be desired however to operate the'compressor motor irom the storage battery 31, as for instance when the train is at rest, the switch 42 is thrown over tothje right so as to connect the wires 41 and 40m the wires 45 and 46 respectively.

Hill

In Figure 2 is shown a modified form of construction of? evaporator unit. In this case instead of employing the spiral coil or coils 23 as shown in Figure 1, a pair of concentric shells L7 and 48 are employed, these shells surrounding the water pipe 14. The shells 4-7 and 48 are of difi'ere'nt diameters, the upper and lower ends thereof being joined together to provide an elongated annuiar chamber through which the refriger-' ant may be circulated. As in the arrangement shown in Figure 1 the liquid refrigerant isdeliveredto this annular chamber through the high pressure line 26 while the vapor resulting from the vaporization of this liquid in the chamber is delivered hack to the suction side of the compressor through the low pressure line 27. In all other respects the system operatesin a manner described above in connection with the arrangement shown in Figure 1. It is to he noted that while in Figure l the water is supplied to the pipe 14: from the main tank 16 through the action of gravity, in the arrangement shown in' Figure 2 the water is supplied to the pipe M from the tank 16 under compression. It is to he understood, of course that either the gravity or forced feed of water may be employed without affecting the refrigerating action which takes place within the cooler ll.

It has already been stated that the refrigerator unit includes a compressor which forces the gas into the condensing element where it is liquefied by cooling, in this in stance by means of air. To facilitate this liquefaction of the gas it may be found desirable to enclose the refrigerating unit 10 within a casingor shell 49, this latter casin being prov1dedat diametrically opposed si es thereof with vertically extending openings or slots 50, these openings lying to either side of the line of travel of the vehicle. Vertically extending baffles 51 are secured to the opposite sides of the casing 49, each in the immediate vicinity ct one of the openings 50, these battles being so disposed that when the vehicle is moving in one direction or another one or the other of the hallles will cause air to be trapped and forced into its adjacent opening for circulation about the interior of the casing and consequently about the surfaces of the condenser element disposed within said casing. it it is assumed that the vehicle is traveling in the direction of the heavy arrow, the circulation of air through the opening 50 and about the interior of the casing 49 will be as indicated by the lighter arrows in Figure 3'.

In Figure 4,14; represents the water pipe, 23 is the evaporator coil, 13 is a. tank for the brine or other holdovcr and 11 is a. sec ond container surrounding said brine tank, evaporator, and water pipe. This second container ll is to receive ice or other refrigcrant in an emergency. This container is to be filled through door 49.

It is to be understood, of course,-that various changes in the construction and rela tive arrangement of the several parts herein disclosed and described may be from time to time made without departing from the real spirit or principles of this invention,

and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated in the appended claims.

W hat is claimed as new and-useful is:

1. In an artificial refrigerating system a liquid cooling apparatus comprising a container for liquid to be cooled, an evaporator for cooling said container, a brine tank surrounding" suid evaporator and container, a second container surrounding said brine tank, evaporator and first named container,

an auxiliary tank for liquid connected to said first named container, a removable cover attached-to said first named container and, a valve attached to said first named container, means for circulating liquid from said tank to said first named container, and means for withdrawing water from. said first named container.

2. A liquid cooling apparatus compris ing a container for liquid to be cooled, an evaporator for cooling said container, at brine tank surrounding said evaporator and container, a second container surrounding said brine tank, evaporator and container, said second named container being adapted to receive ice or other refrigerants, and means for supplying and withdrawing a volatile refrigerant from said evaporator,

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto atfixed our signatures.

CARTER l HALL.

FREDERICK W. LEE. 

